


Barista Tips for the Falsely Accused

by DroppedAllTheseOreos



Category: Kamen Rider Ryuki
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23316538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedAllTheseOreos/pseuds/DroppedAllTheseOreos
Summary: Yura Gorou, freshly out of prison for a crime he didn't do, has fallen on some hard times since no one wants to hire a convict. Especially one whose case was in every paper in Tokyo while he was on trial. He lucks out when deciding to have a coffee at this little place called Atori. And it's there he meets the rather demanding lawyer that was supposed to handle his case.
Relationships: Kitaoka Shuuichi/Yura Gorou
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: W/ Philip





	Barista Tips for the Falsely Accused

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MarineHaddock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarineHaddock/gifts).



Getting a job right out of prison was hard, even if it was on false charges. Of course it would be, but he hoped people could look past that and instead see what he had to offer. He tried applying at restaurants and for bodyguard positions, but every employer ended up rejecting him at some point or another. He was starting to doubt his worth after his third week of job hunting as he sat in a little coffee shop, waiting for his order.

Atori was a quiet little place, a bit cramped, but very homey and comforting despite the whispers and pointed looks he was getting from some customers who probably recognized him from the news. And the waitstaff were kind, if a little disorganized and…

_Crash!_

"Shinji, you okay?" "Again? That boy, I swear."

…more than a little clumsy, if he was being honest.

Shinji, based on what his co-worker shouted, profusely apologized to the customers whose drink he dropped and ran behind the counter to grab a broom and dustpan. As he returned, he promptly tripped over what could've been the dustpan, maybe his own feet. It all happened so fast Gorou couldn't tell.

He felt bad for the poor guy, so he got up and helped him up. Shinji said an embarrassed little, "Thanks," with a beaming grin, and Gorou nodded back. He picked up the dustpan and broom and swept up the mess easily as Shinji dusted himself off. It wasn't until Gorou was almost done that he realized a customer was doing his job and started to wrestle the dustpan back from him.

"Thank you so much for your help, but please just leave it to me, sir!" Shinji exclaimed, panic seeping into his tone as he pulled on the handle, making the pieces of porcelain Gorou picked up spill back out.

"Shinji!" Someone shouted from behind the counter, and they both looked up towards the voice.

An older woman was watching them amusedly, "Let him do it Shinji, hurry up and get the customers their drink."

Shinji's gaze flicked between the woman and Gorou a few times, but he ended up just nodding and going back behind the counter where one of the other employees seemed to heckle him. Gorou met the woman's eyes, and she just kept smiling, so he swept up the mess again quickly, going to the back to find an empty can or something to put all the porcelain in before throwing it away. He found an empty coffee tin and dumped the shards in, sealing it back up and tossing it in the bin after wandering around the back a little aimlessly for it.

One of the other waitstaff members, the one who yelled Shinji's name, went out with a mop to clean up the coffee from the floor and Gorou returned to his seat. The older woman came out from behind the counter and sat across from Gorou, the grin from earlier still tugging at her lips.

"Do you want a job?"

Gorou blinked at her confusedly, unsure if he heard her right.

Instead of repeating herself, she just asked, "What's your name?"

"Y-Yura Gorou…"

She seemed to contemplate his name for a moment, then patted the back of his hand, "If you want a job, stay until we close up, you can help, and we'll see if you meet our needs. But, I have a good feeling about you, and I'm always right!"

She got up and left, not giving Gorou any space to respond, and he just sat there, suddenly filled with anxiety about whether he should stay or not. Well, he had quite a while before the shop closed, based on the hours in the window, so he could always walk out if he didn't want it. Speaking of outside, he didn't see any "Help Wanted" signs in the window or anywhere in the shop.

Well, the owner seemed pretty discerning, so maybe that's why. And it's not like he could easily pass this up, either, since job opportunities weren't looking great for him. This might be his one chance.

* * *

He ended up staying after closing, helping to clean the place up, the owner, Kanzaki Sanako, had him practice making a few drinks and dishes they had on the menu so she and the rest of the staff could try it. And in the end, despite all the skeptical looks from everyone else, she had that satisfied and slightly smug grin from before.

"What did I tell, you, Yui?" She turned to the young woman excitedly. "He'll be a great help around here."

"Aunty…" Yui said, looking hesitant and exasperated.

Sanako just turned back to Gorou, "Well, if you want the job you're hired!"

Gorou's brow furrowed and he took a half step back, "Just like that?"

"Just like that!" Sanako nodded. "Unless you don't want it…?"

"N-no, I do, I'm just surprised… you're not going to do a background check or anything?"

Sanako rose from her seat and stepped forward to gently grab him by the arm, "As long as you don't cause any trouble like those two," she sent a pointed glare towards Shinji and the other staff member dressed all in black, "and do all your work like you just did today, we'll have no problems. Like I said, I think you'll be a perfect fit here, and I'm always right."

* * *

Gorou wasn't exactly a perfect fit, despite Sanako's praise. It turned out his cooking skills had atrophied in prison, which explained the skeptical faces from the night before, but he enjoyed working at Atori nonetheless. And surprisingly, he enjoyed being around his co-workers, too. Yui kept her distance at first, and he tried to keep his head down and give her space. As the first couple of weeks passed, she seemed comfortable enough with him around to let her guard down for them to talk a little more easily, and eventually fell into the beginnings of a friendship.

Shinji was an interesting case. He worked for a tabloid that focused on supernatural events or unsolved mysteries and didn't seem to have anywhere to live. So he got money from his tabloid job, and Sanako let him live in a spare room above Atori for his work here. If he was as good at his job at ORE Journal as he was at Atori, Gorou understood why they didn't give him much to do, yet still kept him around. He was clumsy and airheaded but, overall, a kind individual trying his best. Plus, he knew how to whistle and made the most delicious gyoza Gorou had ever tasted. He even offered to teach him how to make it when they closed up Atori for the night and made dinner for everyone. It was a nice refresher course, and Gorou could feel himself improving with every practice session.

Ren was the hardest one to approach, being about as prickly as the way he styled his hair. Gorou didn't know what to make of him, but he certainly had an interesting relationship with Shinji since they were roommates upstairs. All the staff was so close, it felt like moving in with a family and Gorou wasn't exactly sure if he had a place among them.

And then there were The Regulars. None of the Atori staff seemed to mind them all that much, mainly treating them as everyday nuisances or just flat out ignoring them. Gorou wasn't exactly sure if he'd be able to get used to them like that, or if he'd even want to. There were regulars, of course. People who were pleasant or not really of note but he could recognize their faces and what they'd usually order. But The Regulars were the… interesting ones.

One of them came in much less than the others, but his presence was almost impossible to miss. Despite how much noise and trouble he caused, Gorou could never remember his name, partially because he never ordered anything, and mostly because Ren and Shinji weren't helpful, just calling him "500 Yen," so that's what he became in Gorou's head as well. He didn't have to wonder why they gave him that name to him for long since he asked if Gorou would give him 500 Yen to maybe wipe down some tables or make a latte for a customer, which Gorou quickly turned down. As he got more familiar with Gorou, he started offering some… less work appropriate things in hopes of getting money out of him. The first time that happened, Ren swooped in and told him to get lost.

And then there was the university group. They were a group of three men, of which, he only knew Satoru, since he was the youngest one and always picking up the coffee orders for the other two. It's not like they ever did anything strange like 500 Yen, but there was an aura to them that made Gorou keep his guard up whenever they stopped by. He wouldn't have even known they were working or studying at a university if it weren't for the very official-looking folders the one Satoru called "Sensei" would bring sometimes. On top of that, they had hushed conversations about research, projects, and coma patients in one of the tables close to the back corner of the shop. They talked about things they probably shouldn't say in a quiet cafe where they couldn't guarantee privacy, but who was Gorou going to tell? It's not like Shinji talked about it, and if he didn't say anything, then it must not be any of their business since Shinji had a bigger mouth than the rest of the Atori staff put together. They were only odd and didn't cause any problems, so Gorou politely left them to whatever their shady business was.

Of course, there were other strange regulars. A fortune-teller who seemed to have an eye for Ren and Shinji, a game obsessed programmer from one of the nearby colleges who would order at least four coffees over his stays where he just stared at his computer and intently wrote lines of code, and of course, Yui's older brother… He was a convenience store manager, but honestly, the less Gorou said there, the better.

And then there was Kitaoka. He was one of those lawyer types, and the only reason Gorou knew about him is because he was supposed to take Gorou's case. It really seemed like they were going to be able to prove his innocence, but all of a sudden Kitaoka dropped the case for "personal reasons" and the trial crumbled from there. Gorou almost went to Kitaoka to beg for him to take his case but decided better of it. Kitaoka's reasons must have been important for leaving him in the lurch like that, despite what people had said about him before the trial, that he only took clients if there was some benefit for him and he was arrogant and rude.

Gorou wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and tried to treat him like he was any other customer, but Kitaoka wouldn't even get off his cell phone except to say, "Large coffee to go, black," and then handed Gorou a 10,000 yen bill for a 100 yen order. Gorou took a moment to process Kitaoka's order, who just impatiently glared at Gorou until he softly replied, "We don't do to-go orders. If you'd like to take a seat…"

"I'm sorry, can you give me a moment?" Kitaoka said into his phone before pressing it to his chest, "What do you mean you don't do to-go orders? You're a coffee shop, aren't you?"

"Um, well, we're a sit-down only cafe."

"Well, you're still a kind of restaurant, aren't you? What kind of restaurant doesn't do take out?"

"Us, sir," Gorou said calmly. Kitaoka probably wasn't as intimidating as he probably thought, "However we do provide containers for leftovers, just not drinks."

Kitaoka opened his mouth, looking like he was about to argue, but he seemed to think better of it and asked for his money back. Gorou handed it to him, and Kitaoka went back on his phone, briskly leaving Atori.

* * *

Ren had noticed the encounter and brought it up while they were making dinner that night. When Gorou explained what Kitaoka's deal had been, leaving out the fact that they tangentially knew each other from before, the conversation turned lively.

"Well, I have been considering some kind of take out service. We already have the boxes for food, why not drinks, too?" Sanako wondered aloud.

"Aunty!" Yui made her usual exasperated face when Sanako was ready to hastily decide something, "We don't have to change everything just because someone was rude to Gorou-san! If anything, it's more reason _not_ to do it, since it'll just be giving that lawyer guy what he wants." Shinji nodded resolutely from behind her, not paying attention to the fried rice he was starting to burn.

"He probably won't even come back, anyway," Ren agreed with his perpetual scowl.

"Well, he's not the only person who's come in here asking for take-out," Sanako countered, "I'm sure it'll help pull in more customers as well, and you all know…"

The rest of the Atori staff all looked at each other and sighed, tired but fondly.

"I'm always right!" Sanako finished.

It took a week to get everything ready, but by the next time Kitaoka walked through their doors, Atori was proudly offering coffee to go.

* * *

Gorou was surprised to see Kitaoka return when they were finally offering take out orders, but he didn't get a chance to ask why he came back since the lawyer would always be on his phone with a client or case researcher, or someone else related to whatever he was working on at the moment. And he was still a dick when he finally got his coffee, emptying out some of it into the trash bin they set up for the take out orders and pouring in cream. Ren and Yui would always angrily tell him off, and Shinji would try to gently remind him to please not do that, eventually getting fed up and running out from behind the counter to physically stop him from pouring the coffee out more than once.

"You can just order coffee with room for cream, you know," Gorou said as he rang him up one day.

Kitaoka just ignored him in favor of his phone and Gorou sighed as he closed the register, deciding now was the time to start on the plan he'd been working on since Kitaoka became a Regular. Shinji came over to get the cup from Gorou, but he just shook his head.

"Let me take care of this one, can you get the register for now?"

Shinji tilted his head with a quizzical expression, but gave Gorou a little nod and let him past. Gorou wrote out his message on the side of the cup, spelling Kitaoka's name wrong as an extra "fuck you" for being rude, maybe or maybe not be inspired by Shinji calling Ren "Ron" when things weren't going his way. He knew he didn't have the same kind of relationship with Kitaoka that Ren and Shinji had, but just maybe it'd finally get him to stop being a dick for once. With that set, he went about making the coffee and carefully measuring it out. He was a little nervous setting the cup out and calling Kitaoka over to pick it up, feeling a bit like a tool for what he was doing. But enough was really enough, and someone needed to do this.

Kitaoka took his coffee and gave Gorou a suspicious look when he picked it up. When he moved over to the condiments counter and opened the lid, he balked when he was greeted to a cup only half full. He looked around as if trying to find answers, before finally turning his coffee around to see the message Gorou left for him.

_Kitaorca_

_Until you stop pouring coffee into the trash, I'm going to give you random amounts of coffee until I figure out or you tell me how much room you need for cream_

The lawyer stared at the cup in shock, then turned to the register to Gorou and glared at him. Gorou met him with a challenging stare of his own and tried not to flinch or blink as Kitaoka poured all the coffee into the bin, tossing the cup and lid carelessly afterward. Kitaoka seemed a little upset that his childish retaliation didn't get the reaction he expected, though his lips twitch in the slightest hint of a smirk when he heard Shinji and Yui's outraged cries, and just walked out of the cafe, back on his phone.

* * *

He finally got Kitaoka's coffee ratio right one day. Gorou hadn't even been putting much thought into pouring the coffee, starting to get exhausted by this game he was playing with the other man and sick of watching him just waste coffee and make messes for them to clean up. But he just mindlessly handed Kitaoka his coffee that day, getting ready for another silent outburst when Kitaoka paused. Instead of dumping the coffee out, he just quietly kept talking on his phone, pouring in cream and sealing it back up, giving Gorou a look that was indecipherable besides his usual arrogance.

When Kitaoka finally left, Gorou turned and saw Shinji right next to him, wide-eyed and jaw dropped like how he felt.

"What did you do?" Shinji whispered, awed.

"I don't know..." Gorou answered.

From there, it was just trial and error, Gorou tried to pour Kitaoka's coffee the same way he did that day, but sometimes he felt like he was off. And now they knew he was watching them make it because every time anyone besides Gorou poured it, it went straight in the bin, even if they did it right. It felt like a miraculous breakthrough and a whole new pile of problems all at once.

They came to a grudging stop on their experiments with Kitaoka's coffee and just let Gorou make it from then on. It was wasting more time and coffee to continue than they'd probably save by pressing on.

And from then on, sometimes Kitaoka would even look over at Gorou with a little smile when he was handed his coffee. Though it always returned to the condescending, unamused frown when he read how Gorou misspelled his name that day for being rude to one of the other waitstaff. Gorou wasn't sure what to do with this development, and it left him more and more confused and conflicted about Kitaoka every time he walked out the door.

* * *

"What's with you and that lawyer guy?" Yui asked him one slow summer day.

There was no one in Atori at the moment, Shinji was at ORE Journal, Sanako took the day off when she saw how slow it was, confident the two of them could handle things, and Ren was out... Doing Ren things, probably, so Gorou felt a little trapped with no one to turn to. Though any of the other Atori staff members probably wouldn't be of any help in getting him out of this conversation. They'd probably be badgering him for details, too, or curiously listening in if anything.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Yui shrugged, "I'm just curious since you're still misspelling his name even after you figured out how he liked his coffee. And now he'll only take his order if you make it. I don't get it, you showed us, and we all pour out the exact same amount."

Well, if it had to be anyone, maybe Yui was best to talk about this.

"You probably already know I was in prison before Sanako-san hired me."

Yui nodded, "Hard to miss a case like that. Aunty knew about it, too, but because you helped Shinji, she thought you couldn't be all that bad."

Gorou nodded back, looking down. "I appreciate that."

An awkward silence fell on the cafe as Yui waited for an answer, and Gorou tried to figure out what exactly his feelings for Kitaoka were. Seemingly growing tired of waiting, Yui picked up the broom and dustpan and started sweeping the front. Gorou watched her for a while, then picked up a towel to start wiping down the register, feeling a little strange to not be doing something while she worked. The cleaning helped settle his mind a little, let him gather his thoughts, and finally, carefully speak.

"He was supposed to be my lawyer for that case. You can choose to believe me or not, but I was framed, and he had everything together to prove me innocent, but he suddenly dropped my case and didn't even leave me with a replacement."

Yui hummed thoughtfully as she continued to sweep.

"I'm a little upset at what he did, especially with how he treats all of us now, but... I'm not that angry. It's more of a feeling of... wanting to be noticed, I guess. I felt so insignificant during the trial, and now he comes back, and I feel like it's a chance to finally feel important to someone from that period of my life, even if it's just making them angry."

The sound of sweeping stopped, and the silence returned. Gorou looked up nervously to see Yui standing on the other side of the register, looking at him intently.

"You're important to us, Gorou-san. Everyone at Atori. And I mean it. I hope that means something to you, as well."

Gorou felt raw emotions swelling up in his chest and just nodded a little, "Thank you, Yui."

* * *

Kitaoka was back, once again deep in conversation on his phone. Gorou looked forlornly at the cup after he rang Kitaoka's order up. All of his other attempts to get a reaction from this guy weren't enough, so maybe he could just... give him a random name? He'd run out of misspellings, anyway. After spending a few seconds breezing through some common names in his head, the idea of using something that wasn't even Japanese struck him. It would be easier for all of them to differentiate whose cup this was since there was always the off chance someone in the shop had the same name as the fake one he put down. He didn't know many foreign names, but Sanako had some western books on display near the register, so he picked one at random. He wrote it out on the cup quickly, letting Yui take the register as he went to make it. It was a little crowded by the pickup counter, so he ended up just leaving it in the queue of drinks for Shinji or Ren to pass out while he went to help Yui at the front.

After a few orders were sent out, it finally happened.

“I have a black coffee with room for cream…” Shinji called out, taking some time to read the name, and Kitaoka started approaching the counter “Um, for Philip?”

Kitaoka stopped in his tracks and seemingly out of nowhere, a boy in a striped green shirt, and a long, sleeveless pink overcoat with paperclips in his hair came to the counter and took the cup. Gorou watched in shock as the boy thanked Shinji for the coffee and shuffled back to a table where a man in a nice suit and fedora was sitting.

Seconds later, Ren was shuffling over to the pickup area of the counter, calling out "Large coffee with every syrup we have, whipped cream, cinna..." He paused, reading the laundry list of ingredients on the side of the cup and sighed heavily, "You know the rest of your order..." He mumbled, before calling out the rest, "Caramel mocha latte, and two black coffees, one with room for cream for Philip."

He squeezed around Shinji to put the drinks down in a drink carrier, and the boy from before grabbed the laundry list one excitedly. The guy who was with him got up to help carry the rest, sticking Kitaoka's coffee in the newly freed space, looking at the tray confusedly.

“Why’d you get two?”

Philip shrugged, “I think the baristas are just very nice.”

"Well, hope Akiko likes this place's coffee then, she's got two drinks." Nice Suit and Fedora said, and before Gorou could stop them, they were out the door.

Kitaoka actually took his phone from his ear, turning slowly towards Gorou with a look of betrayal. Well, he finally succeeded at this weird game he was playing, but at what cost?

* * *

"Alright, so what do you want?" Kitaoka demanded the next time he came in.

Gorou just stared at him, waiting for him to clarify. The day had been pretty slow, so Kitaoka bustling in like a sharp breeze and storming right up to the register without his phone to his face was a shock.

Kitaoka quickly got fed up and continued, "You're obviously trying to mess with me here. Don't think I haven't noticed the misspellings of my name. Kita-woke-a? Seriously? And the stunt you pulled the other day? That was the final straw. So I'll ask you one more time. What do you want?"

Gorou's mouth trembled, unsure of exactly what to say. How was he supposed to explain that it was a simple joke gone way too far?

"I just... wanted your attention, I guess." He found himself saying.

"You _guess?"_ Kitaoka didn't look amused at all.

Well, he was all in now, might as well bite the bullet, "At first it was a jab back at you for being rude and pouring out your coffee. But even after you finally started ordering properly, you'd still never put your phone down when talking to us, so I thought it might be a way to get your attention."

Kitaoka's expression scrunched up confusedly and Gorou prepared himself for another bout of yelling, but the lawyer just sighed frustratedly out his nose.

"I'll have my usual, large coffee, black, room for cream."

Gorou blinked a few times, trying to make sure he heard what he thought he did.

"Come on now, I don't have all day." Kitaoka crossed his arms.

Gorou wrote his name down on the cup, correctly this time, since he'd finally achieved what he wanted.

"That'll be 100 yen, please," Gorou said as he rang him up.

Kitaoka placed a credit card down, and Gorou grimaced. "I'm sorry, sir, but we're," He pointed to the nicely decorated sign Shinji made, "Cash only at the moment." Long story short, the card reader got boiling water on it from a Shinji messing up "Ron's" name incident.

After a few moments of looking like he was about to have a stroke, he mumbled, "You always have to make this difficult, don't you?"

Gorou had some choice thoughts about how Kitaoka was the difficult one but kept his mouth shut.

Kitaoka took his card back and handed over a 100 yen coin. Gorou finished up the exchange, printing out his receipt, startled when Kitaoka's hand reached around the register to grab a pen. He scribbled something down on it, leaving it on the counter as he moved towards the pickup area to wait for his drink. Gorou ignored it for the moment, getting Kitaoka's coffee done as quickly as possible.

When he handed it over at the pickup area, their eyes locked for a few seconds and there was a strange look he didn't recognize in Kitaoka's eyes. Before he could place it, the lawyer walked away to doctor his coffee to exactly his tastes. Gorou stared after him for a while longer, then moved back to the register to inspect whatever he'd written on the receipt.

It was a string of numbers separated by dashes.

Was this a phone number?

Was this... Kitaoka's phone number?

He looked up to ask, but Kitaoka was already on his way out the door, "That's for you to get my attention if I can't be bothered to put my cell down. If you can afford the phone bills, of course." And with a chuckle at his own jab, he was out the door.

Gorou picked up the receipt again, staring at the numbers and chuckled a little himself.

He didn't even have a phone.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this, even though I feel like this was cut short! I wanna write more about Gorou's general adventures learning to work with the Atori staff. Maybe one day, since my main regret was not being able to work more "Ron"s into this TwT


End file.
